A 7-day/6-night voyage from Juneau to Petersburg. Navigating through ice filled fjords, we visit a tidewater glacier, searching the shores for brown bears, and stop our engines to watch and listen to humpback whales. We will kayak up a narrow inlet that John Muir called “an ocean filled Yosemite” and follow bear trails through rich estuarial meadows.

Explore Southeast Alaska’s Eastern Passages – Juneau to Petersburg

“Fain would I describe the glories of those months in the ice-world — the beautiful and terrible network of crevasses, the clustering pinnacles, the thousand streams ringing and gurgling in azure channels cut in the living body of the glacier, the glorious radiance of the sunbeams falling on crystal dale and hill, the rosy glow of the dawn and sunset, the march of the clouds on the mountains, and the mysterious splendor of the auroras when the nights grow long, etc., etc., etc. But this would require a volume, while here I have only space to add — Go to Alaska, go and see.” -John Muir, “Alaska”,

Wilderness Discoveries:

Bald Eagles

Humpback Whales, Orcas

Brown Bears

Harbor Seals

Glaciers

Rugged, Natural Beauty

This cruise offers a diverse experience of Southeast Alaska, from fishing towns to wilderness solitude, from islands to glacial fjords. Our goal is to provide the most remote wilderness experience possible, while enjoying the amenities of our wandering home. While we have a general planned itinerary, each trip differs, depending upon the time of the tidal currents, the weather conditions, wildlife viewing opportunities, and the wishes of our clients. This glacial wilderness supports a diversity of wildlife as varied as the landscape. On water, there is the probability of sighting humpback whales, orca, porpoise, and Steller sea lion as well as numerous sea birds. On terra firma we may see black bear, brown bear, and mountain goats. We average three to four hours of running per day, allowing plenty of opportunity for exploring by foot and by kayak. Our routes and anchorages are chosen to give us the best available opportunities to experience the rich and diverse environment of this temperate rain forest.

This itinerary is dependent on weather and the tides and may change at the captain’s discretion

Day 1: Docked near downtown Juneau, passengers are welcome to come on board at 12:00 noon, stow their gear and familiarize themselves with the vessel. Following a brief safety orientation, we will get underway by 12:30 pm, headed south down Gastineau Channel and out into Stephens Passage. After a full lunch, our crew will introduce themselves and share their roles aboard Catalyst. After cruising south for several hours, we will turn east and enter Endicott Arm, probably seeing our first icebergs as we cross the sometimes turbulent entrance bar into the inlet. We will spend our first night anchored along the shore, not far inside the inlet. Listening for wolves howling as the long northern twilight fades from orange to purple to black, we turn in, excited about the adventure ahead.

Day 2: Underway in the early morning, our guests awaken to the heart beat rhythm of the Washington Diesel as we dodge icebergs and wind our way into the fjord. It is 27 miles up the Arm to the face of Dawes Glacier, where we will linger a while to witness the calving and booming of the icebergs and view harbor seals and their pups. Then we will make our way to a seldom visited anchorage called Ford’s Terror, called by John Muir “a flooded Yosemite Valley”. At Ford’s Terror, we will walk in Muir’s footsteps, exploring by foot and by kayak. Surrounded by 5,000 foot granite faces with mist hanging on their ridges and our vessel suspended in crystal clear water, suspended in time… we will kayak through the tidal rapids (at slack water of course) and paddle into the majestic inner fjord.

Day 3: Waking in the morning, we will hike the highlands of Ford’s Terror unique, glacial-caused ecosystem of alpine, bog and forest, viewing the raging tidal rapids from above. We will then head out of Endicott Arm watching for bear, moose, wolves, and whales. Tides permitting, we may stop to hike a meadow and woods along the way. Crossing Stephens Passage and rounding Point Hugh, we will enter Seymour Canal. This 25 mile long inlet is home to the highest concentration of Bald Eagles in Southeast Alaska, and its rich waters support a large population of energetic Dall’s Porpoise. Our destination today is the Pack Creek Zoological Reserve. Pack Creek has been a place where for over 60 years brown bears and humans have lived in close proximity, and the bears have had generations to become accustomed to the presence of people. Arriving in the afternoon, we will go ashore until the Rangers go off duty in the early evening.

Day 4: We now head back to Stephens Passage and into Frederick Sound. We’ll continue down the coast of Admiralty Island, keeping a sharp lookout for whales along the route. This is prime salmon spawning habitat, along with the brown bears that come down to the rivers this time of year to feed on them. Entering one of the quiet bays, we’ll have an estuary paddle, allowing the tide to take us into bear territory and at low tide we’ll walk into their home, and learn about their amazing contribution to the forests of SE Alaska.

Day 5: In the morning we are bound for The Brothers, a group of small islands positioned in the middle of Frederick Sound. Along the way, we will be alert for humpback or orca whale sightings. This is one of the prime summer feeding grounds for the migratory humpback and it is a rare transit if we do not encounter a few. We may shut down the engine and just drift, watching them feeding or breaching and listening to their songs with the hydrophone. We will drop anchor in an idyllic anchorage where the sounds of breathing whales, Steller sea lions hauled out close by, or the screech of an eagle, comes drifting across the evening calm. Today we’ll kayak around the islands and explore the open understory of the rain forest.

Day 6: Tides being right, we’ll explore the tidal pools and then head out to view the Steller sea lion haul out. Watching for humpback whales, we head south down the Sound for Thomas Bay and our anchorage in Scenery Cove. From here we will skiff up the glacial outflow river and hike on the extensive glacial moraine that lies at the foot of Baird Glacier. Tonight is our last evening together as a group and we will celebrate with a slide show of the week’s highlights.

Day 7: A few hours’ travel brings us to Petersburg, where we will be tied up at the dock at about ten, early enough to catch the morning flight to Juneau and on to Seattle, or to get settled into your room in town so that you can explore this Scandinavian fishing village in more detail.

Crew Members

Name :
Bill Bailey

Position : CAPTAIN / OWNER

Bill has spent most of his life on the water. After growing up as a surfer in Southern California he moved to the Pacific Northwest where he worked as a commercial fisher in Washington and Alaska, used boats to transport materials and crews to construction sites on remote islands, and cruised extensively with his family. He has a soft place in his mind for older wooden boats, and over the years has acquired the skills required to keep them thriving. [More]

Carlos was born and raised in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, where he also went to university. Though he majored in international business, his passion is the sea. [More]

Name :
Caroline Olson

Position : NATURALIST, DECKHAND, KAYAK GUIDE

Caroline was raised in North Dakota, a mere 150 miles from the geographic center of North America. There one cannot be farther from the sea. [More]

Name :
Shane Blair

Position : ENGINEER

Shane grew up on a horse farm in Boulder County, Colorado, with a love for the land and the lifestyle, and developed a passion for early era tractors. [More]

Name :
Randy Good

Position : ENGINEER, SHIP'S CARPENTER

Randy’s fascination with boats began early, while spending time with his dad on the Chesapeake Bay and his gift for innovative construction began with tinkering at his grandfather’s workbench while growing up in Virginia. [More]

Sarah Drummond’s passion for the natural world began at an early age, and she has kept illustrated field journals since she was twelve. Sarah graduated from Maine’s College of the Atlantic, where her studies emphasized general ecology, island ecosystems, and art; and earned her M. A. in environmental studies from Prescott College, Arizona. [More]

Name :
Bernadette Castner

Position : CAPTAIN

Bernadette grew up in the Pacific Northwest and was never too far away from the water. Family summers were spent camping on the coast, or exploring the Puget Sound in the family’s 16ft skiff, fishing and discovering remote islands. [More]

Name :
Michael Neswald

Position : CHEF

Michael began his cooking career at the age of fifteen, busing tables and washing dishes at a historic steakhouse in Canyon Country, California, where he grew up. Since moving to Oregon in 2011, he immediately fell in love with the Pacific Northwest - its wild native ingredients, local farms and beautiful vineyards.

Name :
Paul Brown

Position : CAPTAIN

Paul moved to Seward, Alaska and began working on boats at the impressionable age of nineteen. A flurry of ambition awarded him with his first captain's license two-years later, and he spent the next few years working on the northern Gulf of Alaska. [More]